ATHENS, Ga. (AP) – Ole Miss led 10-0 in the first half, but No. 6 Georgia responded with 37 unanswered points as the Rebels fell 37-10 Saturday afternoon at Sanford Stadium.
Sophomore quarterback Bo Wallace finished the game 16-for-25 passing for 187 yards and a touchdown. His 14-yard touchdown pass to Jamal Mosley in the second quarter gave the Rebels an early 10-0 lead.
Aaron Murray threw four touchdown passes and Georgia moved one win away from a spot in the Southeastern Conference championship game.
The Bulldogs (8-1, 6-1 SEC) can clinch the SEC East title and second straight trip to the conference championship game with a win at Auburn next week.
Ole Miss (5-4, 2-3) used blitzes to record five sacks in the first half. The defensive gambles left opportunities for Murray, who completed 21 of 28 passes for 384 yards with no interceptions and touchdown passes of 66, 40, 42 and 28 yards.
Georgia’s defense, coming off last week’s 17-9 win over then-No. 3 Florida, delivered another strong performance, holding Ole Miss to 234 yards. The Rebels were limited to just 55 yards in the second half.
Jeff Scott led Ole Miss with only 21 yards rushing on 13 carries.
Freshman tailback Todd Gurley had 18 carries for 117 yards, his sixth 100-yard game of the season.
Bo Wallace threw a 51-yard pass to tight end Ferbia Allen to set up Bryson Rose’s 34-yard field goal on the Rebels’ opening drive.
With Ole Miss leading 10-7, Rebel freshman linebacker Denzel Nkemdiche forced two fumbles during a spree of four turnovers — two by each team — in five second-quarter plays. Gurley and Keith Marshall fumbled after hits by Nkemdiche, from Loganville, Ga.
Georgia linebacker Alec Ogletree intercepted a Wallace pass and Damian Swann had a 53-yard return of a fumble by Ole Miss receiver Vince Sanders during the wild exchange of turnovers.
The Ole Miss lead held until Georgia’s final possession of the half. The Bulldogs were moving in the wrong direction, thanks to sacks by defensive tackles Isaac Gross and Uriah Grant.
On third and 25, Murray ran to his right when forced out of the pocket and threw the long touchdown pass to King with only 3 seconds remaining for a 14-10 halftime lead.
The momentum carried into the second half, when Georgia scored touchdowns on its first two possessions.